Buttons

Buttons were made in various metals including gold, silver, gilt, Sheffield plate, pewter, steel, wire and brass. With the exception of certain metal buttons, they were generally dome-shaped during the first half of the eighteenth century and usually of a medium or small size. Until the days of Elizabeth I, buttons had been ornamental only, since clothes were fastened by aiglets or hooks-and-eyes and various other devices. Nevertheless, buttons were popular even then, as can be seen in contemporary portraits whose subjects are often dressed in costumes liberally decorated by this form of ornament. Very early silver buttons, however, have mostly disappeared over the years.

It was not until the eighteenth century that they were really documented for they are mentioned in various contemporary publications which reveal some interesting, if curious, occurrences. For example, legislation early in the eighteenth century declared it illegal to wear covered buttons, yet it would appear from the surviving examples of men’s coats and waistcoats that this was not taken very seriously, since they commonly have buttons covered in the same fabric as the garment. On the other hand, the law was enforced from time to time, as in the case of the following incident reported in the Ipswich Journal. A gentleman had unthinkingly strolled into the Guildhall Court of Justice, London, to see if anything of interest was afoot. It was noted that he was wearing covered buttons and he was immediately fined for this offence at the rate of £2 a dozen. This may not seem much by comparison with the number of buttons upon a man’s outfit today, but in the eighteenth century they were used numerously, perhaps forming two parallel rows on the waistcoat, with a line stretching from the neck almost to the hem of the frockcoat, and still more on the sleeves and cuffs. The legislation against covered buttons was happily later repealed.

Antique Collector MagazineSilver buttons survive in sets of six, eight or more which is not surprising since it was usual for a gentleman’s buttons to match throughout his attire. They were also made en suite with link buttons. Hallmarking is rare on earlier eighteenth century examples, but may sometimes appear on the face of the button, an unsightly practice. After 1790 hallmarked examples became more common because, despite their small size and weight, they were no longer exempt from that time. They were made in all sorts of patterns and designs, including a vast selection of scenes, sporting motifs, crests, and so on. After the second half of the century buttons were usually flattish and not so highly domed and after approximately the 1770s they became larger. Huge buttons became fashionable at about this time and remained popular into the 1780s.

Silver and gold buttons were usually worn only by gentlemen, and a person might be judged by the condition and style of his buttons, the less- affluent wearing a mixed and worn selection. A snooty description inA Trip Through the Town, published in 1735, describes ‘a pretty corpulent man whose plate-buttons coat denoted him the master of some publick house’. Plated buttons later became accepted when the dazzling new Sheffield plate was introduced, and thousands were made in this respectable plated copper. Silver buttons are costly but take heart from the case of the collector who, when browsing, came across a black metal button which he bought for £3. After cleaning it with care, late Georgian hallmarks appeared on what revealed itself to be a superb silver button.

Button hooks

This natural adjunct to the button may not be a very glamorous object, but at the time of writing it does still have one advantage over many other items — it is usually reasonably priced in less-fashionable haunts. The button hook came into its own from around the middle of the nineteenth century to the 1920s, although it was used before this time. Button hooks were made in large numbers to help the army of desperate ladies with the fiddling and trying task of fastening tight buttons on gloves, footwear and the varying types of uncompromising stiffer fabrics which were then so fashionable. Handles of button hooks were commonly of silver, although there were other types, often heavily-embossed in rococo swirls and floral or foliate designs. The shaft was of steel, which was hooked at the end for dealing with the recalcitrant buttons, and some have more than one hook for varying sizes of buttons. Silver handles should be hallmarked but will not bear Queen Victoria’s bust (the duty mark) after 1890. On some the marks have become rather worn.

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Miscellaneous Silver (Buttons)